Georgia SHAPE Partner of the Month: Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

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Formed in 1995, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation promotes innovative solutions to improve the lives of youth and their families, seeking results that move communities beyond what seems possible today.

The Foundation invests in early childhood development, education, green space and the arts, and leads giving programs for each of the Blank Family of Businesses, including the Atlanta Falcons, PGA TOUR Superstore, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch and MLS Atlanta. Mr. Blank, chairman of the foundation, co-founded The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, in 1978 and retired from the company as co-chairman in 2001. Through the foundation and his family’s personal giving, Mr. Blank has granted more nearly $300 million to various charitable organizations.

Investing across Georgia, the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation (AFYF) seeks to reduce childhood obesity and improve youth fitness. AFYF has a special interest in helping school-age children living in Atlanta and Gainesville neighborhoods designated as Falcons Fitness Zones. Working closely with the NFL Fuel Up to Play 60 campaign, Let’s Move, and national organizers such Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and PreventObesity.net, AFYF makes grants to increase the time kids spend in physical activity and increase access to healthy, affordable food.

In 2014, AFYF partnered with Georgia SHAPE to launch Georgia Playworks, which is strengthening recess in schools across Georgia. John Bare, vice president of AFYF, serves as co-chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Childhood Obesity. Since Arthur Blank acquired the Atlanta Falcons in 2002, the foundation has grown to be the largest owner-funded foundation in the National Football League, providing more than $20 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the state of Georgia.